Fast crystallizing polyester compositions

ABSTRACT

Fast crystallizing polyester compositions obtained by reacting a polyester having an intrinsic viscosity of greater than 0.3 which polyester comprises aromatic or cycloaliphatic residues obtained from diacids and/or hydroxyacids and aliphatic, aromatic or cycloaliphatic residues of diols with an ionizable metal salt of a compound containing a group of the formula &gt;NH, preferably selected from compounds of the formula: ##STR1## and acid amides, lactams, polyamides and sulphonamides.

This invention relates to fast crystallising polyester compositions containing difunctional aromatic acids and more particularly to such compositions wherein a major part of the polyester is formed of ethylene terephthalate units.

The commercial development of polyethylene terephthalate, hereinfter termed PET, as a moulding powder for use in injection moulding machines has been hampered because the cycle time for moulding of dimensionally stable articles is somewhat longer than that for other plastics of the engineering type. This is primarily due to the fact that the moulded composition does not reach a crystalline condition as rapidly as the other plastics. Premature ejection from the mould of an insufficiently crystallised moulding would mean that the article could continue to crystallise when in service with appropriate volume changes. A further disadvantage of PET is that it requires the moulds to be maintained at a temperature of about 120° C. in order to achieve satisfactory results. While a wide variety of nucleants have previously been suggested as being suitable for bringing about rapid crystallisation of polyesters most of these are either inefficient as nucleants or bring about a marked degradation of the polyester under processing conditions. Thus finely-divided inorganic nucleants such as talc are not very efficient nucleants, and efficient nucleants such as sodium benzoate cause marked degradation of polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate and polytetramethylene terephthalate.

Compositions according to the present invention enable the temperature of the moulds to be reduced below 120° C. while at the same time enabling rapid crystallization to take place and good surface properties to be achieved on the mouldings without unacceptable degradation occurring.

According to the invention there is provided a fast crystallising polyester composition obtained by reacting a polyester having an intrinsic viscosity of greater than 0.3 which polyester comprises aromatic or cycloaliphatic residues obtained from diacids and/or hydroxyacids and aliphatic, aromatic or cycloaliphatic residues of diols with an ionisable metal salt of an organic compound having at least one acidic proton characterised in that the composition contains sufficient of the ionisable metal salt to result in at least 4% of the end groups of the polyester being converted to carboxylate end groups but insufficient to result in the melt degradation performance of the polyester determined as hereinafter described being substantially inferior to that of the polyester in the absence of the salt.

The melt degradation performance is a measure of the extent of degradation under molten conditions. A convenient method of quantifying the performance is by measuring the "K value". A method for determining this value in the molten state using an Instron Capillary rheometer is given in a paper by J Devaux et al in Makromol. Chem. 179, 2201-2209 (1978).

This method is carried out on samples prepared by reacting the salt with the polyester on a 2 roll-mill at a temperature above the melting point of the polyester for 5 minutes and then pressing the product obtained into a 2 mm thick sheet using the same temperature for 3 minutes before cooling to room temperature. The method is described for polyethylene terephthalate but can be readily adapted for other polyesters.

In the case of polyethylene terephthalate this method gives a K value of 55. By "a performance which is not substantially inferior" is meant that the K value for the polyester containing the salt should not be more than 10% higher than the value of polyester alone. For polyethylene terephthalate the K value in the presence of salt should be less than 60.

The number of carboxylate end groups in the polyester of the composition are determined by the infra-red techniques described later.

The choice of ionisable metal salts of organic compounds having at least one acidic proton having the required performance when mixed with the polyester under molten conditions is readily determined using the above characterising tests.

The preferred choice of metal is from the group of alkaline metal compounds including sodium, potassium, lithium and calcium. Sodium salts are preferred.

The extent to which the ionisable salt improves the crystallisation performance of the composition with respect to the polyester alone thereby enabling satisfactory mouldings to be obtained using shorter cycle times and/or lower mould temperatures can be assessed by a number of methods using differential scanning calorimetry techniques. For example, a useful criterion is the crystallisation peak temperature difference which involves comparison of values, for the composition containing the salt and the polyester alone, obtained for the crystallisation peak observed on heating the sample at a constant rate. For polyethylene terephthalate excellent performance is obtained when the crystallisation peak temperature difference as hereinafter defined is at least 20° C.

The organic compounds having at least one acidic proton from which the ionisable metal salt is formed are preferably organic acids selected from carboxylic, sulphinic, phosphonic and phosphinic acids and phenols. Particularly suitable are aromatic organic acids containing an aromatic ring structure which may consist of a single ring, fused rings or multiple rings linked by a direct bond or by, for example, links of the following types --O--, --CO--, --O--CH₂ --CH₂ --O--, --SO₂ --, --NH, and --(CH₃)₂ --. The ring structures may consist entirely of C atoms or may be heterocyclic aromatic rings such as thiophen or furan rings. The aromatic rings should not be substituted by more than one carboxylic acid or carboxylic acid ester group directly linked to any one aromatic ring. However, excellent results are obtainable from acids containing more than one carboxylic acid or carboxylic acid ester group providing they are present on different rings. A useful criterion for choosing a suitable acid to form the ionisable salt is the dissociation constant of the acid. Acids which have a dissociation constant of greater than 10⁻¹, measured at 23° C. in aqueous solution, give ionisable salts which are not sufficiently reactive to confer the property of rapid crystallisation on the polyester composition.

A useful class of aromatic organic acids are those of the formula:

    R--(X).sub.n --(A).sub.m

where A is an acid group selected from the carboxylic, sulphinic, phosphonic, phosphinic and phenol groups, m is an integer which is at least one, X is a direct link or is a --CH═CH-- or a --CH₂ -- group, n is an integer between 1 and 4 and R is an aromatic structure consisting of single, fused or multiple aromatic rings. The preferred acid group is the carboxylic group.

When X is a direct link, A is a carboxyl group, m is one and R is a benzene ring then R preferably contains at least one substituent group other than the carboxylic acid group. Particularly suitable are benzoic acids which contain at least one substituent selected from the nitro, halogen, hydroxy, phenyl and oxyphenyl radicals. Specific examples of substituted benzoic acids are sodium, potassium and lithium salts of ortho-hydroxy benzoic acid, meta-hydroxy benzoic acid, 2,4-dihydroxy benzoic acid, 2,5-dihydroxy benzoic acid, 2,4,6-dihydroxy benzoic acid, ortho-nitrobenzoic acid, meta-nitrobenzoic acid, para-nitrobenzoic acid, 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid, ortho-chlorobenzoic acid, para-chlorobenzoic acid, meta-chlorobenzoic acid, 2,4-dichlorobenzoic acid, para-fluorobenzoic acid, para-oxyphenyl benzoic acid, 2-chloro-4-nitrobenzoic acid and 2-chloro-5-nitro benzoic acid.

The effect of these acids is surprising in view of the fact that salts of a similar nature which have previously been suggested as nucleants, such as salts of terephthalic acid, show little nucleating activity. Thus, sodium or potassium monomethyl terephthalate or disodium terephthalate have only slight nucleating activity.

When X is either a --CH═CH-- or a --CH₂ -- group, R may be unsubstituted or may contain at least one substituent selected from the group halogen, nitro, amino, hydroxy, alkyl, alkoxy or aryl radicals. Specific examples are 3-phenylacetic acid, 3-phenyl propionic acid, 4-phenyl butyric acid, and 1-naphthyl acetic acid.

When x is a direct link and R consists of fused or multiple aromatic rings or is a ring other than a benzene ring, the rings need not contain substituent groups in addition to an acid group. Specific examples are 2-furoic acid, 1-naphthoic acid, 2-naphthoic acid, 2-biphenyl carboxylic acid, 2-thiophen carboxylic acid, and 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid.

It has been found that acids of the formula R--X_(n) --COOH as hereinbefore defined, provide compositions having favourable nucleation and degradation characteristics when the product δ×pK_(H).sbsb.2_(O) for the acid is greater than 55.

The δ×pK_(H).sbsb.2_(O) of the acid is a parameter of the substituted acid, which may be defined as follows: The δ factor is the parameter of solubility of the acid defined by the formula: ##EQU1## in which d is the density of the acid, Fi is the value of the cohesive energy of the acid-forming groups and n is the molecular weight of the acid (see Polymer-Polymer Miscibility, by Olabisi et al, Academic Press, New York, page 57 (1979)).

The pK_(H).sbsb.2_(O) is the negative logarithm of the dissociation constant of the substituted benzoic acid from which the salt is derived (nucleating agent), this constant being measured by titration of the acid by sodium hydroxide in water. The pK_(H).sbsb.2_(O) values given in this specification have been found in the Handbook of Tables for Organic Compound Identification, 3rd edition, CRC Press, Cleveland, USA.

Other organic compounds having at least one acidic proton from which suitable ionisable salts can be formed are compounds containing a group of the formula >NH.

The salts may be formed from any nitrogen compound containing acid hydrogen but particularly suitable compounds include compounds of the formula: ##STR2##

Also suitable are salts of acid amides, sulphonamides, such as N-ethyl-p-toluene sulphonamide, and lactams such as caprolactam, and polyamides.

The amount of nucleating agent to be reacted with the polyester to give the required carboxylic end-group concentration and effective nucleation may vary between wide limits but should not be so high as to induce melt degradation. The crystallisation rate increase effect of the nucleating agents used in accordance with this invention is apparent when as little as 0.05% by weight of said nucleating agent is added to the polyethylene terephthalate. Excellent results have been obtained when about 0.25 to 2% by weight, particularly about 1%, of the nucleating agents have been incorporated into the polyester.

The ionisable salts may be introduced into the compositions by any of the conventional methods for introducing additives into melts of polyesters. Preferably the compositions may be prepared by melt compounding techniques in mechanical mixers, such as a screw extruder.

The invention also includes polyester compositions in which the ionisable metal salt of the organic compound containing at least one acidic proton is provided by forming the salt in situ.

The polyester used in the composition of the invention may be any polyester which contains residues of aromatic or cycloaliphatic diacids or hydroxyacids and aliphatic, aromatic or cycloaliphatic residues of diols. Polyesters containing at least 90 mole % of ethylene terephthalate are particularly suitable as these are readily available and have suitable physical properties for use as engineering polymers. They may be made up wholly of ethylene terephthalate units or may contain minor amounts of copolymerised units which do not substantially alter the character or properties of the homopolymer. On the other hand the polyesters may contain polymeric segments having a glass-transition temperature of less than 0° C. and preferably less than -20° C. so that the character of the polyester is radically changed by internal plasticisation.

The polymeric segments preferably have a molecular weight in the range 500 to 10,000 and desirably between 1000 and 5000. The polymer used must be capable of undergoing polycondensation with the segments of PET through reactive end groups such as hydroxyl or carboxyl groups or of being linked to PET segments by the use of chain extenders. They must be thermally and chemically stable under the conditions necessary to form the block copolymer. Typically suitable are polyethylene glycol, polyethylene adipate, polypropylene glycol, polybutylene glycol, polybutylene adipate, polycaprolactone, polydecamethylene glycol, polyethylene sebacate, polyethylene azelate and plyoxydiethylene sebacate.

The concentration of the polymeric segments should be between 0.05 and 10 mole %, preferably 0.1 to 5 mole % of the block copolyester.

Accordingly there is also provided a fast crystallising polyester composition obtained by reacting a polyester which is a block copolyester containing the repeating polymeric segments A and B wherein A is a polymeric segment of ethylene terephthalate units and B is a polymeric segment having a glass-transition temperature of less than 0° C. and preferably less than -20° C., the concentration of the segments of B being between 0.05 and 10 mole % preferably 0.1 to 5 mole % of the block copolyester, and an ionisable metal salt of an organic compound having at least one acidic proton characterised in that the composition contains sufficient of the ionisable metal salt to result in at least 4% of the end groups of the polyester being converted to carboxylate end groups but insufficient to result in the melt degradation performance of the polyester determined as hereinbefore described being substantially inferior to that of the polyester in the absence of the salt.

The block copolyesters containing such segments may be obtained from monomeric constituents of PET and the low glass-transition temperature segments by conventional means. For example, copolymers may be made by heating dimethyl terephthalate, ethylene glycol and the polymeric segment in the presence of an appropriate catalyst at about 200° C. until ester interchange is complete and thereafter heating at 275° C. to effect the poly-condensation. Alternatively, a preformed polymer of the polyester or a polyester diol can be compounded under melt conditions with an appropriate reactive polymeric segment. Chain extenders, such as isocyanates, epoxides, phenyl esters and carbonates, may also be included in a melt compounding process. The melt compounding process is also useful for preparing block copolyesters having various concentrations of the polymeric segment from copolyesters having a higher concentration of the polymeric segment. In this "let-down" process PET may be melt blended, for example, with a copolyester of PET containing 10 mole % of polyethylene oxide segments to give a copolyester containing a polyethylene oxide concentration which has been reduced in proportion to the total concentration of ethylene terephthalate units in the final composition.

The use of block copolymers of the type described are particularly useful because such block copolymers have a greater tendency to crystallise rapidly without the need to add an external plasticizer. In the case of PET homopolyers or when there is insufficient of any component in the polyester able to effect internal plasticisation of the polyester it is advantageous to add an external plasticizer. Suitable external plasticisers for use with PET are described in British Patent Applications published as GB 2,015,013 and GB 2,015,014.

The compositions may also contain a variety of auxiliary additives, for example, for improving the thermal, oxidative and light stability of the polyester or a varieity of other additives such as fillers, pigments, colourants, flame retardants, chain extenders and mould release agents. The addition of known nucleating agents are also included in the invention.

The compositions are particularly useful for use in engineering applications when they contain particulate or fibrous fillers because these materials can signficantly enhance the mechanical properties of the composition. Of the fibrous fillers, glass fibre is most widely used and is commercially available in a variety of types. The most suitable type for giving optimum levels of mechanical properties will depend to a significant extent on the nature of the size applied to the glass. Manufacturers of glass fibres apply a variety of sizes for promoting bonding between the polymer and the glass. The most suitable glass may be chosen by examination of the properties obtained when the glass is incorporated in the composition or the advice of the glass fibre manufacturer may be sought to obtain a fibre suitable for use in polyester compositions. Suitable glasses are OCF 277B or OCF 419AA, obtainable from Owens Corning Fiberglas. The compositions may contain from 5 to 80% by weight of the composition of glass fibre.

The composition may additionally, or alternatively, contain a variety of mineral fillers such as clays, mica, calcium metasilicate, glass beads, pulverized fuel ash and hollow glass spheres and other materials which act not only as cheap fillers but also significantly enhance some mechanical properties of the composition. As with the glass fibre it is advantageous to use fillers which have been surface treated with adhesion-promoting materials such as silanes.

The compositions of the invention may also include other polymeric materials. The blend of such compositions will normally contain less than 50% of the composition of other polymeric materials. Particularly useful are compositions containing polymeric impact improvers, for example, of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,034,013 and 4,096,202. Other suitable impact improvers include ethylene vinyl acetate, ethylene acrylic ester and carboxyl containing ethylene copolymers.

The fast crystallising characteristics of the compositions of the invention may be determined by subjecting small samples of the composition to differential scanning calorimetry techniques in addition to the practical test of determining the fastest rate at which articles may be injection moulded whilst retaining dimensional stability and good surface properties. In one such DSC technique the crystallisation peak temperature difference, Tn(composition)-Tn(polyester) is determined by measuring the crystallisation peak temperatures on heating for the composition in comparison with the polyester of the composition not containing the ionisable salt. The detailed procedure is as follows. Compositions were prepared from the polyester and the additive by mixing on a 2-roll mill at 300° C. for 2 minutes. The sample was taken from the mill and pressed into a film in a compression moulding machine. 10 mg samples of the composition were placed in a capsule, rapidly heated to 290° C. and maintained at that temperature for 1 minute. The capsule was then dropped into water to quench the polymer and prevent crystallisation. The sample was then placed in a Perkin Elmer DSC 2 machine and heated at a rate of 10° C./minute until reaching a temperature of 290° C. The crystallisation peak temperature observed on this heating cycle is recorded and compared with the value for the polyester not containing the additive. For polyethylene terephthalate compositions this value is preferably at least 20° C.

An alternative method for assessing the effectiveness of nucleation of an additive is to compare the difference between the value of the crystallisation peak on cooling (Tc) with that on heating (Tn) for a composition containing an ionisable salt. The value obtained from this comparison, Tc.sub.(cooling) -Tn.sub.(heating) is termed ΔT. The preferred nucleating agents of the composition have a ΔT of at least 100° C. for polyethylene terephthalate compositions when measured according to the following procedure. Samples of polyester together with 1% of the salt under test were mixed in a 2-roll mill at 270° C. for 5 minutes. The sample produced was pressed into 2 mm thick sheets at 270° C. for 3 minutes and then cooled to room temperature. 10 mg of the sample was placed in a capsule and rapidly heated to 290° C. After maintaining this temperature for 1 minute the capsule was quenched in water. The crystallisation peak temperatures on heating (Tn) and cooling (Tc) were determined using heating and cooling rates of 10° C./minute on a Perkin Elmer DSC 2 machine.

Other variations of these tests may be used as indicated in the Examples.

The infra-red method described below is used to determine the carboxylate end-group concentration (expressed as gram equivalent/10⁶ g polymer) in polyethylene terephthalate polymer and may be adapted for other polyesters. The method is applied to amorphous polymer films whose crystallinity does not effect the measurements.

The amorphous polyester film is prepared by drying the polymer in a vacuum oven (ca 0.5 mm Hg) at 90° C. for 4 hours. The dried sample is placed between PTFE-coated platens inside a template. The assembly is placed in a press held at 280° C. and pressed at a pressure of 1 ton. After 4 seconds the pressure is raised to 5 tons on a 10 cm diameter ram and held for a further 4 seconds. The platens are then immediately quenched in cold water.

The carboxylate end-group determination involves the measurement of the carboxylate groups near 1550 cm⁻¹ by difference, cancelling the PET absorption by means of a PET wedge (tapering from 0.04 to 0.08 mm) and containing no carboxylate groups. Sample films, preferentially 0.05 to 0.06 mm in thickness are used in the analysis. The wedge is placed in the comparison beam of the spectrophotometer and is adjusted to remove the PET absorption bands from the spectrum. The PET absorption band occurring at 1950 cm⁻¹, recorded without the wedge, is used as an internal thickness reference band, to account for differences in sample thickness.

The absorbance ratio 1550 cm⁻¹ /1950 cm⁻¹ is then related to the concentration of carboxylate end groups by means of a calibration graph. The calibration is based on the measurement of a series of PET polymer samples containing known amounts of --COO.sup.⊖ Na.sup.⊕ groups prepared as follows.

A series of polymers were prepared from terephthalic acid (6 kg), ethylene glycol (3 liters) and antimony trioxide (3.5 g) and specific quantities (0.35 g to 3.5 g) of sodium hydroxide. These were heated to a temperature of 135° to 145° C. under vacuum for 3 hours with stirring. At the end of the period the vacuum was less than 1 mm of mercury. At this stage further specific quantities (0.35 to 3.5 g) of sodium hydroxide were added and the polymerisation was continued over a period of 1.75 hour at a temperature of 290° C. The sodium ion contents of the polymers produced were determined by an atomic emission technique.

A double beam grating spectrophotometer is required for the analysis to operate in the 2300 to 1450 cm⁻¹ region. The Perkin Elmer 580 ratio recording grating spectrophotometer, equipped with dry air purge, is suitable and the measurements in our laboratories were carried out on said instrument.

The spectra are recorded between 2300 cm⁻¹ and 1860 cm⁻¹ and between 1670 cm⁻¹ and 1490 cm⁻¹. The absorbance at 1950 cm⁻¹ is measured from the peak height of the absorption band using the base line techique. The absorbance at 1550 cm⁻¹ is obtained in the following way: the peak height absorbance (using the base line technique) is multiplied with the band width in cm⁻¹, measured at half intensity of the same band (d_(1/2)). Thus, the ratio of absorbances: ##EQU2## is proportional to the concentration of carboxylate end groups (expressed as gram equivalents/10⁶ g polymer) in polyethylene terephthalate.

The total number of end groups in the polyester were found by determining the intrinsic viscosity of the polyester and using the correlation between I.V. and number of end groups given in Transactions of the Faraday Society 1961, Volume 57, pages 150 to 159. The numbers of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups were also determined according to the procedure given in this paper.

A further useful characterising test involves measuring the melt viscosity of the composition after compounding in a screw extruder. This characterisation is important not only to measure the extent of polyester degradation (shown by a reduction in viscosity) but also to determine the extent to which the melt viscosity is increased. Some additives can increase the melt viscosity to such an extent that the flow properties of the molten composition become unsuitable for moulding purposes. The method used for this characterisation is as follows. The polyester mixed with the ionisable salt is compounded in an 18 mm Betol screw extruder using a screw speed of 50 rpm and a temperature profile sufficient to ensure complete melting of the polyester. After stable running is achieved a sample is collected at the extruder die and stored in a vacuum oven at 80° C. The melt viscosity of the sample is measured on a melt grader. For polyethylene terephthalate compositions a temperature of 270° C., a load of 2 Kg and a die 1.18 mm in diameter and 8 mm long are employed. The shear stress (σs), under these conditions, is 1.15×10⁴ N⁻². Taking the melt density of PET to be 1200 Kgm⁻³, the shear rate (γ) is calculated from: ##EQU3## where M=mass extruded in time T (g⁻¹).

The viscosity (η) is then given by: ##EQU4##

The melt viscosity of the polyester of the composition not containing the ionisable salt is measured in the same way after the same treatment in the extruder. Preferred compositions have a melt viscosity value which is not greater than 1.5 times the value for the polyester alone.

The invention is further illustrated by reference to the following examples.

EXAMPLE 1

10 g of granulated polyethylene terephthalate (such as the B 90 grade of polyethylene terephthalate manufactured by ICI, United Kingdom) are converted into fine particles in a suitable grinding apparatus, such as a ball mill.

0.05 gram of sodium 2-chloro-4-nitrobenzoate are dissolved in 5 ml of methanol.

The methanol solution of the nucleating agent is then poured onto the powdered polyethylene terephthalate and the slurry is stirred, during 5 minutes at room temperature.

The so-treated polyethylene terephthalate is then dried during 24 hours firstly at room temperature and then during 48 hours at 60° C., so as to obtain a dry powder of the polyethylene terephthalate composition.

The following table shows the surprising crystallisation rate increase effect obtained when using the nucleating agents according to this invention.

A DSC 2 Perkin Elmer scanning calorimeter was used.

10 mg of the sample of polymer material are placed in a capsule and introduced into the apparatus, wherein the sample is quickly heated to a temperature of 290° C. at which it is maintained during 1 minute.

The molten polymer material is then very quickly cooled by means of liquid air (at a rate of 320° C. per minute) until the crystallisation temperature is reached.

The crystallisation isotherm is registered on a temperature-time graph and the peak appearing on the registered isotherm is taken as the half-crystallisation time (t_(1/2)).

    ______________________________________                                         Tc (°C.)                                                                        190      180      140    130    120                                    ______________________________________                                         t.sub.1/2 (sec).sup.1                                                                   26      14       11     20      48                                    t.sub.1/2 (sec).sup.2                                                                  116      99       50     60     145                                    ______________________________________                                          .sup.1 Nucleated PET prepared by the method according to this invention;       .sup.2 pure PET.                                                         

EXAMPLE 2

The same method as described in Example 1 is used, except that the concentration of sodium 2-chloro-4-nitrobenzoate has been changed, this concentration being respectively of 0.1, 0.5, 1 and 2% by weight.

    ______________________________________                                         t.sub.1/2 (sec)                                                                Tc (°C.)                                                                        0        0.1%     0.5%   1%     2%                                     ______________________________________                                         180      99      35       14     11     11                                     190     116      55       26     20     18                                     200     --       --       --     34     19                                     ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 3

The melt viscosity of the nucleated PET according to this invention has been measured and compared to the melt viscosity of pure PET and of PET nucleated with 1% of sodium benzoate and of PET nucleated with sodium p-tert-butylbenzoate. The melt viscosity has been measured with an Instron Capillary rheometer after 20 minutes of residence of the sample at 290° C.

    ______________________________________                                                                  Melt viscosity                                        Sample                   (poises)                                              ______________________________________                                         PET                      640                                                   PET + 1% sodium benzoate 240                                                   PET + 1% sodium p-tert-butylbenzoate                                                                    280                                                   PET + 1% sodium-2-chloro-4-nitrobenzoate                                                                550                                                   ______________________________________                                    

This table shows clearly that the polyethylene terephthalate nucleated according to this invention is substantially more stable than PET nucleated with 1% conventional nucleating agent, such as sodium benzoate or p-tert-butylbenzoate. The melt viscosity of the PET nucleated according to this invention remains practically equivalent to that of pure PET.

EXAMPLE 4

The polyethylene terephthalate is mixed in a Brabender plastograph with about 2% by weight of sodium 2-chloro-4-nitrobenzoate. The following half-crystallisation times are obtained:

    ______________________________________                                         Tc (°C.)   t.sub.1/2 (sec)                                              ______________________________________                                         180               4                                                            190               9                                                            200               15                                                           ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 5

The salts listed in Table 1 were evaluated according to the following tests. In these tests, a proportion of 1% of the nucleating agent has been added to PET in a 2-roll mill mixer at 270° C. during 5 minutes. The sample was then pressed into 2 mm thick sheets during 3 minutes at 270° C. and cooled to room temperature.

The following Table 1 gives the results of the tests made with the mixture of PET and of the nucleating agent. In said table:

ΔT and δ×pK_(H).sbsb.2_(O) have the above meanings;

t_(1/2) is the half-crystallisation time (in seconds) of the samples measured at the indicated temperatures (°C.) after melting during 1 minute at 290° C.;

K is the degradation constant of the PET in the presence of the nuclearing agent obtained by measuring the viscosity in the molten state (290° C.) of the sample in an Instron Capillary rheometer by the method described by J Devaux et al in Makromol. Chem. 179, 2201-2209 (1978).

In the following Table 1, the results of tests are also given for compositions which are not in the scope of this invention, i.e. those containing 1% of sodium benzoate and sodium para-tert-butylbenzoate.

                                      TABLE 1                                      __________________________________________________________________________     Nucleating agents according                                                    to the invention                    t.sub.1/2 (sec)                            Sodium salts of:                                                                              δ                                                                           pK.sub.H.sbsb.2.sub.O                                                              δ × pK.sub.H.sbsb.2.sub.O                                                K   ΔT                                                                           120° C.                                                                     110° C.                         __________________________________________________________________________     ortho-hydroxy benzoic acid                                                                    14 3   42    26  105 40  80                                     meta-hydroxy benzoic acid                                                                     14 3.9 54    86  91  55  165                                    2,4-dihydroxy benzoic acid                                                                    14.7                                                                              3.2 47    35  99  45  95                                     2,5-dihydroxy benzoic acid                                                                    14.7                                                                              3   44    22  103 48  85                                     2,4,6-dihydroxy benzoic acid                                                                  15.3                                                                              1.7 26    37  97  50  110                                    ortho-ONa-benzoic acid                                                                        14 3   42    24  110 49  70                                     ortho-nitrobenzoic acid                                                                       13.5                                                                              2.2 30    20  106 45  65                                     meta-nitrobenzoic acid                                                                        13.5                                                                              3.4 46    49  105 45  65                                     para-nitrobenzoic acid                                                                        13.5                                                                              3.4 46    79  102 54  75                                     3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid                                                                       13.7                                                                              2.8 38    44  102 45  85                                     ortho-chlorobenzoic acid                                                                      12.4                                                                              3   37    32  108 36  65                                     para-chlorobenzoic acid                                                                       12.4                                                                              4   50    64  102 40  90                                     meta-chlorobenzoic acid                                                                       12.4                                                                              3.8 47    31  107 40  63                                     2,4-dichlorobenzoic acid                                                                      12 2.8 34    65  109 35  60                                     para fluorobenzoic acid                                                                       12.2                                                                              4.1 50    60  104 38  70                                     para-oxyphenylbenzoic acid                                                                    13.5                                                                              3.5 47    40  105 38  73                                     2-chloro-4-nitrobenzoic acid                                                                  13 2   26    39  103 48  90                                     2-chloro-5-nitrobenzoic acid                                                                  13 2.2 29    52  108 40  65                                     __________________________________________________________________________     Compositions not within the         t.sub.1/2 (sec)                            scope of the invention                                                                        δ                                                                           pK.sub.H.sbsb.2.sub.O                                                              δ × pK.sub.H.sbsb.2.sub.o                                                K   ΔT                                                                           120° C.                                                                     110° C.                         __________________________________________________________________________     benzoic acid (sodium salt)                                                                    13 4.2 55    88  99  45  90                                     sodium para-tert-butylbenzoate                                                                14.1                                                                              4.4 62    109 92.5                                                                               55  150                                    __________________________________________________________________________

Table 1 shows that the nucleating agents according to this invention which have a value of the parameter δ×pK_(H).sbsb.2_(O) of less than about 55 and preferably also a ΔT value of more than about 100 cause clearly less degradation of the molecular structure of the polyethylene terephthalate than similar nucleating agents having a δ×pK_(H).sbsb.2_(O) value of 55 or more.

EXAMPLE 6

PET has been dried 17 hours at 120° C. in a ventilated oven. 0.5% of sodium 2-chloro-4-nitrobenzoate has been dry blended with the polymer powder. The nucleated powder was extruded into pellets in a Werner Pfleiderer Twin screw extruder (ZSK 30).

    ______________________________________                                         Extrusion conditions:                                                          ______________________________________                                         Temperature of the melt                                                                              296-302° C.                                       Screw speed           200 rpm                                                  Flow rate             250 g/minute                                             Outgassing pressure   100 mm Hg                                                ______________________________________                                    

The following results are obtained:

    ______________________________________                                         Tc (°C.)                                                                         200     190     180   120   110   100                                 ______________________________________                                         t.sub.1/2 (sec)                                                                         34      21      13    15    35    80                                  ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 7

The extruded product of Example 6 has been dried (120° C.) in a ventilated oven. The obtained pellets have been moulded by injection in a Buhler Rover 63 machine.

    ______________________________________                                         Injection conditions:                                                          ______________________________________                                         Mould temperature  120° C.                                              Screw temperature  260/270/290/288° C.                                  Injection pressure 34 bars                                                     ______________________________________                                    

Different cycling times have been experimented. It has been found that even with a very short cycling time of 12 seconds, tough moulded articles were obtained which exhibit a melting temperature of 265° C. and a crystallinity of 40% (based on a heat of fusion of 24 Cal/g for the 100% crystalline PET).

EXAMPLE 8

With the same conditions of those of Example 6, except that 5% tritolyl phosphate (plasticiser) is added in the dry blend, the following results are obtained:

    ______________________________________                                         Tc (°C.)                                                                        200      190      180    120    110                                    ______________________________________                                         t.sub.1/2  (sec)                                                                       3%       20       13     8      17                                     ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 9

100 g of granulated polyethylene terephthalate (B 90 grade of polyethylene terephthalate manufactured by ICI, United Kingdom) are reacted with 1 g of sodium phenylacetate as described in Example 5. Samples for DSC examination were prepared according to the method of Example 5.

The following table shows the surprising crystallisation rate increase effect obtained when using the nucleating agents according to this invention.

The crystallisation isotherm is registered on a temperature-time graph and the peak appearing on the registered isotherm is taken as the half-crystallisation time (t_(1/2)).

    ______________________________________                                         Tc (°C.)  120        110                                                ______________________________________                                         t.sub.1/2  (sec).sup.1                                                                           30        55                                                 t.sub.1/2  (sec).sup.2                                                                          145        >200                                               ______________________________________                                          .sup.1 Nucleated PET prepared by the method according to this invention;       .sup.2 pure PET.                                                         

The degradation constant K, determined as hereinbefore described is less than 15.

EXAMPLE 10

The same method as described in Example 9 is used except that sodium 1-naphthylacetate is used as nucleating agent.

The following table gives the half-crystallisation time of the obtained mixture of PET containing 1% of sodium naphthylacetate.

    ______________________________________                                         Tc (°C.)  120         110                                               ______________________________________                                         t.sub.1/2  (sec)  30          55                                               ______________________________________                                    

The degradation constant of the PET nucleated with sodium 1-naphthylacetate is equal to 30.

EXAMPLE 12

Samples of polyethylene terephthalate (I.V.=0.73) containing 1% of the salts listed in Table 2 were prepared by compounding at 300° C. on a 2-roll mill for 2 minutes. The samples were evaluated to determine Tn(composition)-Tn(polyester), the total number of end groups, the number of carboxylate groups and the number of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups.

                                      TABLE 2                                      __________________________________________________________________________                End Groups (moles × 10.sup.-6 g.sup.-1)                                  Total                                                                          from                 % of                                                      solution             carboxylate                                                                          Tn(composition)-                         Salt       I.V. --OH                                                                               --COOH                                                                              Carboxylate                                                                           end group                                                                            Tn(polyester)                            __________________________________________________________________________     sodium benzoate                                                                           136  54  44   13     9.6   27                                       p-tert-butyl                                                                              157  56  83   4      2.5   19                                       sodium benzoate                                                                sodium o-chloro-                                                                          167  55  45   37     22    26                                       benzoate                                                                       sodium 2,4-dichloro-                                                                      192  55  67   32     16.7  23                                       benzoate                                                                       sodium p-chloro-                                                                          157  --  --   13     8.0   23                                       benzoate                                                                       sodium 2,6-dichloro-                                                                      153  56  51   15     9.8   25                                       benzoate                                                                       sodium p-hydroxy-                                                                         148  64  102  4      2.7   20                                       benzoate                                                                       sodium 2,6-dihydroxy-                                                                     127  69  55   5      3.9   24                                       benzoate                                                                       sodium 3,5-dihydroxy-                                                                     138  --  --   0      0      7                                       benzoate                                                                       sodium o-phenoxy-                                                                         173  54  77   22     12.7  25                                       benzoate                                                                       __________________________________________________________________________

EXAMPLE 13

The salts listed in Table 3 were deposited from solution on the surface of polyethylene terephthalate chip to give a concentration of 1% by weight of salt. The product was dried unner vacuum at 96° C. for 3 hours. The compositions were pressed into film using a temperature of 280° C. for 1 minute. The DSC measurements were made after quenching from the melt to prevent crystallisation and using a heating rate of 16° C./minute.

                                      TABLE 3                                      __________________________________________________________________________                           End Groups (moles × 10.sup.-6 g.sup.-1)                                  Total               % of  Tn                                                   from                carboxy-                                                                             (°C.)                                                                        Tn(comp.)-                              Dissociation                                                                           solution      Carboxy-                                                                             late end                                                                             (16° C./                                                                     Tn(PET)                   Salt          constant                                                                               I.V. --OH                                                                               --COOH                                                                              late  group min) (16° C./min)                                                                   K                  __________________________________________________________________________     Sodium salt of 2-furoic                                                                      68 × 10.sup.-5                                                                   121  62  29   15    12.4  127  --     65                 acid                                                                           Sodium salt of                                                                               6.8 × 10.sup.-5                                                                  121  60  31   11     9.1  120  25                        2-naphthoic acid                                                               Sodium salt of 2-biphenyl-                                                                   35 × 10.sup.-5                                                                   133  60  26   15    11.3  121  22                        carboxylic acid                                                                Sodium salt of 4-biphenyl-                                                                   --      107  61  31    6     5.6  131  16                        carboxylic acid                                                                Sodium salt of 2-thiophen-                                                                   33 × 10.sup.-5                                                                   145  59  24   26    17.9  112  29     15                 carboxylic acid                                                                Sodium phenyl phosphinate                                                                    3 × 10.sup.-2                                                                    --   66  25   --    --    117  --                        Calcium cyclohexyl                                                                           --      --   --  --   --    --    129  --                        phosphinate                                                                    Sodium 1-naphthoate                                                                          670 × 10.sup.-5                                                                  --   --  --   --    --    111  --                        Sodium 5-hydroxy-1-                                                                          --      --   --  --   --    --    132  --                        naphthoate                                                                     Sodium 8-bromo-1-                                                                            --      --   --  --   --    --    124  --                        naphthoate                                                                     Sodium 6-hydroxy-2-                                                                          --      --   --  --   --    --    116  --                        naphthoate                                                                     Sodium 6-methoxy-2-                                                                          --      --   --  --   --    --    119  --                        naphthoate                                                                     3-hydroxy-2-naphthoate                                                                       --      122  60  32   12     9.8  118  27     20                 __________________________________________________________________________

EXAMPLE 14

1% by weight of the sodium salt of saccharin was deposited on the surface of granules of a polyethylene terephthalate homopolymer of I.V.=0.73 by evaporating an aqueous solution of the salt from the granules by drying at 96° C. under vacuum for 3 hours. The granules obtained were compression moulded into film by pressing at 280° C. for 60 second. The film was used for measurements of Tn at a heating rate of 16° C./minute. A value of Tn of 112° C. was obtained compared with a value of 148.5° C. obtained for the polyester itself containing no nucleating additive. The product had a K value of 9.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE A

The effect of the salts listed in Table 4 was determined by taking granules of a polymer of poly(ethylene terephthalate) homopolymer having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.73 and evaporating a solution of the salt in methanol or water from the surface of the granules by drying at 96° C. under vacuum for 3 hours. The proportions of polymer and solution used were such as to give a concentration of 1% of salt by weight of the final dry composition. The granules obtained were compression-moulded into film at 280° C. for various periods of time. The film was used for measurement of Tn as hereinbefore described.

                  TABLE 4                                                          ______________________________________                                                                     Time in                                                             Dissociation                                                                              Press    Tn                                        Salt             Constant   (sec)    (°C.)                              ______________________________________                                         Sodium monomethyl tere-                                                                         30 × 10.sup.-5                                                                      30       --                                        phthalate                   60       132                                       Potassium monomethyl tere-                                                                      30 × 10.sup.-5                                                                      30       138.5                                     phthalate                   60       137.5                                     Potassium hydrogen ortho-                                                                       130 × 10.sup.-5                                                                     30       142.5                                     phthalate                   60       144.5                                     Disodium terephthalate                                                                          30 × 10.sup.-5                                                                      30       141                                                        (First     60       140                                                        dissociation                                                                   constant)                                                     Sodium benzene sulphonate                                                                       2 × 10.sup.-1                                                                       30       146                                                                   60       141.5                                     Sodium benzoate  6.27 × 10.sup.-5                                                                    30       115.5                                                                 60       117                                       NIL              --         30       152.5                                                                 60       148.5                                     ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 15

Two samples of polyethylene terephthalate chip (I.V.=0.73) were coated from solution with 1% of the sodium salt of o-hydroxybenzoic acid and the disodium salt of the same acid respectively. After drying for 3 hours in a vacuum oven at 95° C. films were prepared by pressing the products for 1 minute at 280° C. The products were found to have Tn values measured at a heating rate of 16° C./minute of 114° C. and 108° C. respectively. The K values for the two compositions are 26 and 24 respectively. Measurement by the infra-red techniques described showed the products to contain 30 and 39 gram equivalents/10⁶ g of polymer of carboxylate end groups.

EXAMPLE 16

A block copolymer containing 5% by weight of polyethylene glycol units of molecular weight 1540 in chip form was blended with a solution of the sodium salt of o-chlorobenzoic acid to give a salt concentration of 1% by weight of the polyester. Samples were prepared for DSC analysis using the procedure of Example 15. The composition was found to have a Tn value of 102° C. using a heating rate of 16° C./minute. Analysis by the infra-red techniques described previously showed that 19.4% of the end groups of the polymer were in carboxylate form.

EXAMPLE 17

The polymer used in Example 16 and 1% of the disodium salt of o-hydroxy benzoic acid were compounded on a 2-roll mill at 270° C. for 2 minutes. The product was prepared for DSC analysis as described in Example 5 and was found to have a Tn of 100° C. (measured at a heating rate of 10° C./minute). The total number of end groups determined from the intrinsic viscosity of the polymer was found to be 137. The carboxylate end-group concentration determined by infra-red analysis was found to be 20.6% of the total number of end groups. The K value for the composition was less than that for the polyester itself. 

We claim:
 1. A fast crystallising polyester composition obtained by reacting a polyester having an intrinsic viscosity of greater than 0.3 which polyester comprises aromatic or cycloaliphatic residues obtained from diacids and/or hydroxyacids and aliphatic, aromatic or cycloaliphatic residues of diols with an ionisable metal salt of a compound containing an >NH group.
 2. A polyester composition according to claim 1 wherein the ionisable salt is formed from a compound selected from compounds of formula: ##STR3## and acid amides, lactams, polyamides and sulphonamides.
 3. A fast crystallising polyester composition according to claim 1 wherein the reaction of the polyester with the salts results in at least 4% of the end groups of the polyester being converted to carboxylate groups.
 4. A fast crystallising polyester composition according to claim 3 wherein the melt degradation performance of the polyester composition is not substantially inferior to that of the polyester in the absence of the salt.
 5. A polyester composition according to any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the metal of the ionisable metal salt is selected from sodium, lithium, potassium or calcium.
 6. A polyester composition according to any of claims 1 to 5 in which the polyester of the composition is a polyester containing at least 90 mole % of ethylene terephthalate units.
 7. A polyester composition according to claim 6 wherein the polyester is a block copolyester containing from 0.05 to 10 mole % of polymeric segments having a glass-transition temperature of less than 0° C.
 8. A polyester composition according to any one of claims 1 to 7 containing a plasticiser for the polyester.
 9. A polyester composition according to any one of claims 1 to 8 containing from 5 to 80% by weight of the composition of a particulate or fibrous filler. 